Although the proprietress of the Feathered Jade is rough around the edges, her wife, Ning Yu, is incredibly adept at winning over hearts.
To welcome the arrival of the Hippo poets, the Feathered Jade was bustling that night. A flowing banquet was set up beneath the slat banana trees at the front of the hillock.
No wonder the homeless Hippo poets, who had never enjoyed such treatment before, were rather overwhelmed by the surprise.
The Feathered Jade’s uniqueness and detachment from the worldly futility deeply touched the hearts of these cultured people.
The harsh winds of the wilderness, blocked by the bamboo groves. The slaves painstakingly erected a gigantic female goddess statue, holding up bud-shaped trays. Under the control of the Water Magic Array, engraved on clam shells by Avril, the statue was casting three beautiful fountains. The main jet was five fathoms high and thick enough to embrace, with roaring water splashing down two smaller fountains, which were three fathoms high. The water curtain fell, causing the water pool in the bud-shaped tray to splash water endlessly. Because of the boundary, the boiling splashes could not get out.
Even more surprisingly, perched on top of the main fountain’s stream was a large Night Pearl, and each of the smaller streams had a purple water chestnut flower floating on it. The roots of the water chestnut flower, nestled within the transparent fountain, were thin, long, and pure as whiskers, gracefully hanging. Avril, being a natural water-loving mermaid, controlled the fountain’s water flow perfectly. The Night Pearl and the water chestnut flowers would roll on top of the fountain, swaying with the tremors of the water flow, but they never fell off.
The soft glow of the Night Pearl, mixed with the moonlight, transformed into miniature rainbows in the mist, which were incredibly beautiful.
The gentle breeze carried a light floral fragrance that lingered between the waterwaves, refreshing the mind.
All the slaves were forced to bathe in the Sanggan River before dinner. The pandas held large bamboo brushes, ensuring each person scrubbed a thousand times, almost rubbing off a layer of their skin.
The goblins and ogres, who fear water the most, cried out loud due to the cold. However, the aroma of the food soon made them forget their recent misfortune. They sniffed and greedily watched the halfling chefs working away.
Karu was right: their slave chefs were indeed Hobbit Halflings.
When the Hippo poets entered this paradise, they almost thought they were in the wrong place. The desire to write poetry surged in them massively. Such an enchanting setup was just a fountain in the eyes of Richard, but in the eyes of the Hippo poets, it was a beautiful poem, a captivating portrait; the placement of the goddess statue and the proportion of lighting had reached a state of perfection.
Elegance among vassals was a given, of course.
"Ah... brewing tea and playing the guqin here, there’s no need to burn famous incense anymore. If one could sit here on a moonlit night reading a book, it would not be a vain life," mused Richard, raising his glass to the bright moon, playing the profund.
Upon hearing these words, the feasting Hippos were taken aback, asking themselves, how refined can this simpleton Overlord’s sentence be?
A few proprietresses nearly laughed out loud, knowing that reading and playing music were activities Richard could only dream of.
On the vast open ground in front of the Red Earth Highland, there were heaps of bonfires. The Larza Beasts, filled with lemongrass and wild onions, seeped orange oil droplets over the fire; the mushrooms soup in the large pot rolled an amazing aroma; and the fragrant, sweet, and soft slat bananas, mashed with sheep milk, and chilled with the "Ice Bead" given by the Mammoth Clan. Wrapped in egg skin, in an instant, it became a delicacy that all the Feathered Jade children and women could not stop praising.
The Mammoth Clan could not help but sigh, wondering why they had not thought of this way of eating before. It seems only Lord Richard, their Lord, could invent such a delicacy that even the Hobbit Halflings admired.
"I won’t leave now, even if it kills me," O’Neal said gruffly, biting into the "ice cream" made by their Lord.
Looking at the subjects around him, Richard could not help but reflect.
Three hundred boys and girls, around two hundred people of the vassal clans, Sea Ditch Rainbow and the Kunk Tribe, over one hundred people from the Mammoth Clan, and forty loyal Panda and Mastiff Warriors, five accomplished priests, and now over two hundred people of the Hippo Tribe.
And over three hundred slaves. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel·fiɾe·net
Richard was surprised at how quickly he reached the minimum population requirement set by the temple. Although having just over a thousand subjects was a bit modest for a noble lord, Richard was very content.
The population might not be large, but here resided the most robust and brave warriors, priests, ritualists, amphibious Marine Force, magic consultants, mysterious illusionists. The twelve giant mammoths that could be adapted into terrifying cavalry. Such a complete arrangement was rare even in the Beamon regular army, wasn’t it?
Within a blink of an eye, it had been almost a year since he had come to this world. Starting from only a single sock, and now leading over a thousand of subjects, with three close female mates, bearing the prestigious title of ritualist, Richard felt he was as good as drunk even without the drink.
"Who am I really? Am I an Orc? Or am I human?" Richard wondered, looking up at the huge moon "Xiang Pa", with a whiff of melancholy.
"Eat more!" Richard shouted at his slaves.